Visibility of eTwinning Projects Groups July 2019 Newsletter Newsletter 9 | Page 61

Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2019 Newsletter
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wonderland - the collaborative world of little
eTwinners
by Irena Raykova, Cira Serio, Renata Večerková
and Rangel Pantaleev
The project “Wonderland” was run by the teachers
Irena Raykova, Cira Serio, Renata Večerková and
Rangel Pantaleev. We met each other in the
eTwinning platform four years ago. Since then, we
have run many successful eTwinning projects. The
last one, “Think”, gained three national eTwinning
awards and it was announced as “The eTwinning
project of the year 2018” in Bulgaria.
eTwinning helps us to grow as modern educators
and offers the best learning environment for us and
for our students. It gives us a better understanding
of modern active teaching methods. We learnt how
to design the tasks in order to develop high-level
thinking skill, communication, collaboration and
creativity. For us, eTwinning is one of the best and
most natural ways of professional development. As
we watch each other, our own eyes and minds are
opened to new, different, and exciting ways to
teach. Of course, this also means that if one
teacher has a problem, or is looking for a better
way to do something, then we support each other
and suggest solutions together. This means that our
collaboration benefits and enriches all members,
and that it turn gives a richer experience to our
students.
Our latest project “Wonderland” is aimed at
developing English language skills via Literature,
Art and ICT. What is Wonderland? It is the land
where people meet unusual creatures. They usually
have extra powers. They could be humans with
extra powers, look like humans or have strange
features. They dwell in fairy tales and Wonderland
is their homeland.
As the project developed, eight doors opened to
lead the children through the Wonderland. Each
door was opened on a set date and introduced the
challenges that children had to solve in the magical
world of Wonderland.
Wonderland has strengthened our friendship and
the close collaboration that has been consolidated
throughout all these years in which we work
together in projects. Wonderland has allowed our
students to improve their language skills and to
grow as more confident speakers of English. The
conscious use of the web, while respecting the
privacy of all European citizens, is aimed at
developing a democratic culture of life. Our first
motto - born in our first project together - turned
from "A friend is forever!” into “eTwinning forever!"
Developed competences:
Communication in foreign language: listening,
speaking, understanding and writing skills.
Students can:
- introduce themselves;
- talk about their likes and dislikes;
- talk about e-Safety and netiquette rules:
prohibitions and abilities
- describe a hero: talk and write about:
appearance, qualities and abilities, express personal
point of view.
Communication in mother language: storytelling
skills, reading comprehension skills;
Social and civic competences: skills to work in
teams, respect other people point of view.
Digital skills: e-Safety and Netiquette awareness,
responsible use of the Internet, digital citizenship
Students worked with the following online tools and
applications: Google presentations, Google Forms,
Padlet, AnswerGarden, My blue robot, Learning
Apps, Quiver Vision, Elf yourself, ChatterPix,
Twiddla, Popplet,Jigsaw Planet, QR codes.
TwinSpace tools: chat, project diary, forums
They learned to find, select and present the
information.
Cognitive skills: problem solving skills,
remembering, analysing, evaluating, creating,
decision-making
Lifelong learning skills: concentration, ability to
focus, remember, gather and connect the pieces of
information.
The 4Cs = Critical thinking, Communication,
Collaboration and Creativity.
Emotional intelligence: Self-Awareness, Social
Skills, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Empathy.
The First Door revealed the introductory task.
Students created their avatars and introduced
themselves on a padlet wall. They presented their
country, flag and language. During the first video
conference they added some more information
about their town, school and sang their national
anthems. Moreover, they tried to say a sentence in
partner languages, which was really funny.
The project focused on developing digital skills, too.
Therefore, the Second Door aimed at e-Safety and
netiquette. Students formulated the rules to follow
and chatted about them with their partners. They
also learnt about copyright and how to use safe
search engines for kids.
61